Welcome. Grab a coffee and lie down on the metaphorical couch — we’re about to unpack some feelings.

Today’s session: the emotional rollercoaster known as creating content for your business.

Whether you’re a small business owner, brand builder, or entrepreneur, this ride is the same for everyone — and it’s basically the five stages of grief, but instead of loss, you’re mourning your sanity every time you try to post something.

✅ TL;DR: Creating content as a small business owner is basically the five stages of grief:
1️⃣ Denial: “I don’t need a plan.” (You do.)
2️⃣ Anger: “WHY is no one engaging?”
3️⃣ Bargaining: “If I post more, maybe it’ll work.”
4️⃣ Depression: “Maybe I should just quit.”
5️⃣ Acceptance: “This is hard… but I can do it.”

Everyone goes through it — the key is learning to move through the chaos faster. Consistency beats perfection every single time.

Let’s diagnose:

STAGE 1: DENIAL
“I don’t need a content calendar. I’ll just post when I feel inspired.” Sure, Jan.

You convince yourself that ideas will magically show up while you’re in the shower or stuck in traffic. You post a few times here and there — a selfie, a random quote, a blurry product photo — and call it a strategy.

Spoiler: it’s not.

STAGE 2: ANGER
“WHY does this sound bath company get 50K likes and I get 12?”

Now you’re mad. Mad at the algorithm. Mad at the competition. Mad that Susan from down the street went viral for a video of her dog wearing a branded T-shirt.

You try the same reel format. 9 views.
The audacity.

STAGE 3: BARGAINING
“Maybe if I post more… use trending audio… sacrifice a ring light to the content gods?”

This is where desperation sets in.
You’re Googling “best hashtags 2025.”
You’re downloading every freebie you can find.
You’re convincing yourself that dancing on TikTok is actually brand-aligned.

You make a deal with the universe: “If this post gets 100 likes, I swear I’ll never complain again.”

The universe: 👁️👄👁️

STAGE 4: DEPRESSION
“I’m never going to figure this out. Maybe I should just delete everything.”

This is the low point. Your drafts folder is a graveyard. Your Notes app is 57 half-finished caption ideas that all start with “idk what to say but…”

You question if anyone even cares. Maybe you should post once a quarter like it’s 2010. Maybe you should go live in the woods and raise alpacas.

STAGE 5: ACCEPTANCE
“Okay… this is hard. But I can do hard things.”

Finally, reality sets in: nobody nails it every time. Not even the people who make it look effortless. Everyone has flops. Everyone has posts that tank.

You stop trying to be perfect and start being useful. You talk about what you actually know, and people respond.
You realize consistency doesn’t mean posting 7 days a week — it means showing up intentionally.